Portable furnace for melting steel or other metals.



N0. 792,619. PATENTED JUNE 20, 1905.

L. ROUSSEAU.

PORTABLE FURNACE FOR MELTING STEEL OR OTHER METALS.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 23, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JUNE 20, 1905.

L. ROUSSEAU. PORTABLE FURNACE FOR MELTING STEEL OR OTHER METALS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 23, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Fig .2.

No. 792,619. PATENTED JUNE 20, 1905. L. ROUSSEAU.

PORTABLE FURNACE FOR MELTING STEEL OR OTHER METALS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 23.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES Patented June 20, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS ROUSSEAU, OF ARGENTEUIL, FRANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No. 792,619, dated June 20, 1905.

Application filed May 23, 1904. Serial No. 209,158.

.To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that LLouis ROUSSEAU, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Argenteuil, France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Portable Furnaces for Melting Steel or other Metals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved portable furnace of the kind described in the specification of my previous Letters Patent, No. 74L9AO3; and its purpose is to place the hearth of the furnace in a special chamber which only communicates with the chamber containing the removable vessel by means of orifices for the passage of the gases of combustion, so that if the removable vessel breaks the bottom of the chamber containing the said vessel will receive the melted metal and the latter can be run off into the molds as if it were still contained in the crucible itself.

The invention also relates to various other improvements for facilitating the operation and the working of the furnace and for simplifying its construction.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the furnace; Fig. 2, an end elevation seen from the end at which the controlling mechanism is arranged, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The vessel or crucible ifor the metal to be fused is circular in plan and provided with a spherical or elliptical bottom to increase its strength and simplify its construction. The crucible is situated in a chamber 5, of fireproof material, the bottom of which is provided with a bed-plate 6. The crucible is supported by abutments 7, partly recessed in the wall of the chamber 5, which is provided at its upper part with a crown-piece 8 of suit able shape. The lower part of the said crownpiece 8 extends downward toward the interior of the crucible in such a manner as to leave between the latter and the crown an annular space of suflicient width for the passage of the gases of combustion, so that said gases are caused to impinge on the surface of the liquid metal before leaving the furnace. The said crown-piece 8 projects slightly outward toward the casting or pouring hole, which is closed by means of a plug or the like during the fusion in the usual way. The hearth 9 is at the side of the chamber 5 and only communicates with the latter by means of two conduits 10 10, which serve as fines for the gases; but these conduits are arranged at such a height that if by accident the crucible 4 discharges its contents into the chamber 5 the level of the liquid metal never reaches the height of said conduits 10.

Above the hearth 9 is a combustion-chamber 11, partly surrounded by a conduit or flue 12, communicating at each end with a channel or flue 13, arranged between the chambers 5 and 11. The combustion-chamber is in direct communication with the channel 13 by means of orifices 14 14 of sufficient number to provide adequate section of passage for the gases from the combustion chamber. The said channel 13 communicates with the chamber 5 by means of the aforesaid conduits 10. The chamber 11 is provided with a cover 15, fixed by means of a screw 16, connected to a lever 17 pivoted to the metal plate 18, forming the upper part of the furnace. The end of the lever 17 is adapted to engage a ring 19, pivoted to said plate 18, so that said lever is prevented from rising under the pressure of the screw 16. The cover '15 can be easily and rapidly removed by unscrewing the screw 16 and disengaging the ring 19 from the lever 17, this being effected very rapidly.

The hearth 9 and the chambers 11 and 5are both inclosed in the cast-iron jacket 15, within which the air required for the combustion can circulate. For the latter purpose a conduit 16 leads into the said jacket and communicates with two short tubes 17 and 18, the upper one of which, 17, leads into the upper part of the casing 15, which is thus cooled while heating the air, and the lower tube 18 leads to the space under the fire-bars of the hearth. (See Fig. 1.) Each of said tubes is provided with a butterfly-valve or damper 19 or 20, respectively, the said dampers being fixed to a rod 21, which is common to both and is provided with a handle 22 outside the furnace. The wings of the two dampers are arranged at right angles to each other, so that when the handle 22 is turned one of the tubes is closed and the other opened.

To the jacket 15 are fixed two journals 23 23, supported by bearings 24, fixed to the bed-plate of the furnace, which can be provided With rings for facilitating removal of the apparatus. To one of the said journals is fixed a toothed segment 25, gearing with a toothed pinion 26, mounted on a shaft 27. This shaft carries a worm-Wheel 28, gearing with a worm 29, adapted to be operated by means of one or other of the hand-Wheels 30, fixed to the ends of the shaft supporting said worm. It will be seen that the rotation of one of the said hand-Wheels will imparta rotary movement to the toothed segment 25, and thus to the entire body of the furnace, so that the melted metal contained in the crucible a can be discharged into a ladle, ingot-mold, or the like.

To the cover 15 is connected a tube 31, leading into the interior of the combustion-chamber 11 and connected by a flexible tube 32 to a vessel containing petroleum or any other hydrocarbon, so that a stream of liquid hydrocarbon can be delivered to the combustionchamber, said stream becoming ignited on contact with the heated gases and adding its powerful heating-effect to that of the fuel on the hearth 9.

The gases from the hearth 9 ascend to the combustion-chamber 11 and pass through the orifices 14c and channels orflues 13 and 10 in such a manner as to distribute themselves in the chamher 5, Wh ere the circulation is facilitated by the orifices 33, arranged in the abutments 7 The ail-supplied through the conduit 16 passes, on the one hand, through the tube 18 to the space beneath the lire-bars of the hearth 9, and, on the other hand, through the tube 17' to the space surrounding the chamber 11 and thence through the conduit or fine 12 to the channel 13, where it meets the gases escaping through the orifices 14, to Which gases it brings the oxygen necessary for complete combustion. In the chamber 5 the gases ascend and pass round the crucible 4, which they heat to a high temperature, whereupon they pass underneath the crown-piece 8 and impinge on the surface of the metal contained in the crucible 4.. Then the said gases leave the apparatus in the direction indicated in Fig. 1. If the quantity of gases produced is too great for the quantity of air supplied, so that carbon monoxid leaves the furnace, the handle 22 is turned in such a manner that the damper 20 more or less closes the conduit 18 and reduces the quantity of air supplied to the hearth, the conduit 18 being opened to the same extent to increase the volume of air supplied in order to furnish the necessary oxygen for the complete combustion of the gases passing through the orifices 14:. By operating the handle 22 the combustion can therefore be controlled as desired.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is In a portable furnace for melting steel and other metals, the combination with the combustion chamber of a juxtaposed circular chamber, conduits or flues connecting the two chambers, supports fixed in the second chamber, a crucible resting on said supports, a conduit divided into two branches leading respectively under the combustion-chamber and into the space around said chamber, a vertical rod crossing the two branches, a valve in each branch mounted upon the said vertical rod, the two valves being located at right angles to each other, a removable cover upon the combustion-chamber, a tube projecting through this cover and means for tilting the furnace, substantially as described and for the object specified.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 7th day of May, 1904, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS ROUSSEAU.

Witnesses:

PAUL BAOARD, JULIEN OAVERNE. 

